NI Komplete 14 Collector's Edition - $1799, $499 update, still not Apple Silicon ready

[ElmerJFudd]

 

What's included,

https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/bundles/komplete-14-collectors-edition/

 

System Requirements,

https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/bundles/komplete-14-collectors-edition/specifications/

 

Still a lot of work to do as far as native on Apple silicon,

https://support.native-instruments.com/hc/en-us/articles/360014683497?_ga=2.56994666.1544215757.1662566554-518285900.1662566554

 

Other options.

[zeronyne]

I have 13 Ultimate, and although not Silicon yet, it’s been working fine as standalone, in Reason, and in Ableton Live. 

[felis]

They dropped Absynth.    

 

 

[Stokely]

I may be tempted next summer if they do their usual upgrade sale.  I have K12 standard.   They know exactly how to price things so that it's *almost* too much for what I want from the collection...I honestly probably use 5% of Komplete right now, mostly Kontakt.  The synths are very nice but I have others I use all the time (Alchemy, Repro and Diva).  I thought I'd use FM8 more than I have, same for Massive X and Reaktor.

Not surprised they dropped Absynth, as the original dev has moved on and the guis on their older stuff are becoming pretty hard to use on high rez screens (this is one reason I don't like using FM8).

I've learned the lesson (hopefully) that it's better to focus on fewer really good instruments, get to know them well, than preset surf through dozens of plugins.

[AnalogGuy1]

Are Kontakt, Massive, and FM8 finally fully scalable?  There's no point in me looking at the offerings if I can't see the offerings...

[Geoff Grace]

Kontakt 7 isn't slated to appear until October. According to leaks, it will feature a "Fullscreen HiDPI Browser." As developers begin to release libraries that require it, Kontakt 7 will eventually become a high-priority purchase. I'll probably upgrade when it goes on sale next year.

 

Best,

 

Geoff

[johnchop]

No one asked, but I’ve been on the Komplete treadmill since version 5, and I think I’m just sort of done at version 13.

I think the direction for sound libraries and synths is just sort of missing me, especially as I get older and want just a little pond of easy-to-use things that make me happy as opposed to a sea of options.

 

I would love to see an a la carte approach in place of a massive “bundle of everything,” but clearly they know how to move product and make money with this approach, so… enh. 

[RABid]

NOOOooooooooo!!!! Sometimes NI drives me crazy.

 

I will also hold off until the %50 off sale. Just got 13 Ultimate a few months ago so I am in no hurry.

[zeronyne]

Does anyone know how to shut off the annoying preview sequence when you scroll though patches? (In Komplete Kontrol, I mean).

[Al Coda]

I´m still on Komplete 12 Ultimate Collectors Edition and don´t see any need for an upgrade.

Seems I´ll wait ´til K15UCE.

 

☺️

 

A.C.

[nursers]

13 hours ago, zeronyne said:

Does anyone know how to shut off the annoying preview sequence when you scroll though patches? (In Komplete Kontrol, I mean).

 

 

https://www.native-instruments.com/forum/threads/change-kk-patch-preview-volume-or-disable.448831/ 

[Doerfler]

On 9/7/2022 at 3:03 PM, felis said:

They dropped Absynth.    

 

 

linked article expounds on this post

 

https://cdm.link/2022/09/ni-has-retired-absynth-soft-synth-after-22-years-heres-a-statement-from-its-creator/

 

 

[ElmerJFudd]

38 minutes ago, Doerfler said:

linked article expounds on this post

 

https://cdm.link/2022/09/ni-has-retired-absynth-soft-synth-after-22-years-heres-a-statement-from-its-creator/

 

 

It makes sense they drop some older code they aren’t updating anymore given the amount of work they need to do to push out Apple silicon versions and HiDPI support for Windows.  Kirn suggests they have a target date to be finished with that.  
 

“Native now: Guitar Rig 6, Kontakt

 

Native in Q4 2022: FM8, Monark, Komplete Effects (that’s the Solid effects, Transient Master, Enhanced EQ, VC 160/2A/76, etc.), Komplete Kontrol, Massive, Massive X, Rounds, Form, Super 8, TRK-01, Bite, Drive, Phasis, Raum, and other Komplete 14 Instruments and effects, except –

 

Native in “the beginning of” 2023: Reaktor 6, Battery 4

Any other criticisms aside, I will absolutely have a party when Reaktor 6 is Apple Silicon native. On the other hand, I’ve had the least trouble with Reaktor in Rosetta – and probably the most with Kontakt and Kontakt-based stuff, so it’s great to see Kontakt become Apple Silicon-native.

 

Yeah, if you’re using Windows, what you care about is HiDPI support – I’ll try to find that out separately. I’ll also try to get a more complete (pardon the pun) list.”

 

Personally, I wouldn’t give them a penny going from 13 to 14 until that work is done.  ymmv

 

https://cdm.link/2022/09/komplete-14-adds-kontakt-7-expands-bundle-but-m1-m2-support-is-spotty-at-a-glance/

[Al Coda]

4 hours ago, ElmerJFudd said:

Native in Q4 2022: ..., Monark, ...

 

Native in “the beginning of” 2023: Reaktor 6, ...

 

What?

Monark runs in Reaktor,- no ?

Does that mean they´ll make Monark a "standalone" and plugin device?

 

☺️

 

A.C.

[DeltaJockey]

I happen to personally like RC48, and am using it currently with Rosetta, but it does occasionally, (and predictably) crash Logic Pro. I guessing there's no hope of them supporting that on Apple Silicon in the future, so I'll have to wade though all my mountains of effects plugins and find something equivalent that I'm happy with for the future.

 

It just eats up heaps of wasted time tweaking something else in all my different musical scenarios to my liking, when long ago I thought I'd got that cat skinned.

[Doerfler]

3 hours ago, Al Coda said:

 

What?

Monark runs in Reaktor,- no ?

Does that mean they´ll make Monark a "standalone" and plugin device?

 

☺️

 

A.C.

Monark does indeed need to run inside Reaktor. As to your question about being a stand alone, who knows? Nothing but speculation at the moment. Massive runs stand alone, but Massive X requires a VST host (not Reaktor) to run stand alone. Personally, I would like some standardazation. I am but one paying customer, but I can't be alone here.

[Al Coda]

6 hours ago, Doerfler said:

Monark does indeed need to run inside Reaktor. As to your question about being a stand alone, who knows? Nothing but speculation at the moment. Massive runs stand alone, but Massive X requires a VST host (not Reaktor) to run stand alone. Personally, I would like some standardazation. I am but one paying customer, but I can't be alone here.

 

Dave,- I posted because I cannot imagine NI´s (?) info is correct.

Because Monark needs Reaktor as a host,- it cannot be it will be "Apple silicone native" earlier than Reaktor itself,- except,- they make it a self- sufficent DSP device, p.ex. like Massive, FM8, Kontakt etc..

 

☺️

 

A.C.

[Mark Schmieder]

I'm slammed like never before, due to a months-long basement recovery project from the flooding, so I wasn't thrilled last week when I heard about the Absynth drop, but am hoping any impact on the ability to run my copy indefinitely, will be far enough out, that I can defer any deeper research on the topic. As it stands though, vi-control has been talking about this and the developer stepped in, but I don't have time to try to cherry pick a consolidated summary of what appears to be the real story on how Absynth got the axe. The developer was not told BTW.

 

I also use the Evolve products more than most other non-basic members of the Komplete suite. As the developer has moved more towards direct sales in recent years, I'm wondering if Heavyocity will actually continue those products but they simply won't be part of Komplete anymore?

 

I wasted money on K12 Collector's Edition. The sampling quality on some of the orchestral stuff is excellent, but the GUI's drive me crazy, so I rarely use them. Not enough control over mics, ambience, even articulations, even though the information is clearly there, in the samples themselves due to the vendors involved and the sources.

 

All the same, it is only $100 more, to upgrade to K14 CE than the next edition down, and it includes other stuff as well. But I've mostly read bad reviews of the solo string libraries, and I already bought and sold Noire when it first came out. Couldn't stand some of the baked-in aspects and mic control aspects. I spent 100 hours tweaking it first, and comparing to other libraries. It's definitely in the top third, but that doesn't cut it these days, given the excellent VSL Synchron Pianos suite.

 

It's interesting that some of the iZotope and Plug-in Alliance stuff is now part of Komplete, but it's a shame that CE doesn't include iZotope Advanced/Pro vs. Standard. I'm once again caught in the usual iZotope dilemma of confusing, overlapping, not-eligible, upgrade and side-grade paths due to how they keep refactoring their suites. So I was hoping there would be a clear tiering within their inclusion in Komplete. Maybe next time around? It's hard to keep track of which iZotope updates we are grandfathered into.

[Konnector]

I'm still on Komplete 9 + some additional libraries it didn't include at the time. (Razor, Ricky bass, etc) 

Gave this some thought as upgrading to K14 is cheap, but I don't think I'll bother this time around. I already have loads of plugins, soft synths and 3rd party Kontakt libraries. At some point enough is enough. (for now at least!)

[Mark Schmieder]

The world libraries are top notch. If they weren't so expensive a la carte and as a unified suite on their own, I probably would have sold my K12 Komplete Collector's Edition license and just bought those plus Kontakt on their own. I barely even use FM8 anymore, since Arturia's DX7 came out.

[LarsHarner2]

I  just got Komplete 13 select for $99- augmented two items I wanted- B3/C3 (currently have UVI organs as well) and the Rickenbacher bass ( have ROwdy bass which I like).

I am wondering on black friday what the upgrade deal will be like. 

[Sam CA]

Intakt and later  Absynth -now Absent-  were my first NI instruments. I'm still on NI Collector 12. I had no reason to upgrade to 13. Maybe I'll find something interesting this time. 

[Julius D Majestic Studios]

On 9/7/2022 at 2:03 PM, felis said:

They dropped Absynth.    

 

 

But if you already had it, you still have it. 😊

[Julius D Majestic Studios]

On 9/10/2022 at 6:18 PM, LarsHarner2 said:

I  just got Komplete 13 select for $99- augmented two items I wanted- B3/C3 (currently have UVI organs as well) and the Rickenbacher bass ( have ROwdy bass which I like).

I am wondering on black friday what the upgrade deal will be like. 

Probably nothing crazy considering it just came out...

[Al Coda]

12 minutes ago, Julius D Majestic Studios said:

On 9/7/2022 at 9:03 PM, felis said:

They dropped Absynth.    

 

 

But if you already had it, you still have it. 😊

 

Only as long you won´t need to re-activate,- p.ex. in case of a system drive exchange or such.

I´m pretty sure, it will refuse activation somewhere in future.

Read HERE

The same happened to earlier NI Komplete versions,- p.ex. Komplete 7 and earlier devices hwich were already part of Komplete 4,- Pro53, Spectral Delay, the vocoder.

I had all installed on a older Win XP SP3 32Bit Intel dual core machine and lost the installation by accident.

To (re-) activate a new installation,- old NI Service Center would be needed because Native Access won´t run on XP.

And now, for Win11, you need Native Access 2 which p.ex. won´t run on a Win 7 and Win 8 machines anymore.

 

They simply don´t think about users maintaining several DAW machines.

That said, I have a Win10 machine but won´t move on that fast like they want.

 

And yes,- like Sam CA above, I was pi##ed too when Intakt was discontinued and now Absynth too.

 

many of the NI Community are.

Here´s a YT vid from of Absynth developer Brian Clevinger,-

developer´s statement

 

and here´s his website  offering more VIs.

 

 

A.C.

 

 

[Al Coda]

...  here´s a list what you can activate or not anymore w/ NI Native Access.

It´s s##tload you cannot anymore meanwhile and even you payed a lot for in the past.

And it´s not true old computers don´t run anymore,- all my old computers, Mac PPC and Intel, desktop or laptop, all Windows PC desktops/laptops and even ATARIs run fine until today.

Yeah, some will die sooner or later,- but the old gear isn´t your main DAW and acts as an addition to it.

It will be rarely used, but sometimes it will be powered up because it hosts rare plugins, standalone instruments, sample- and preset libraries,- may ´em be collected or self made.

Advertised "Latest-Greatest" isn´t worth sacrificing everything for just only because a manufacturer thinks you should.

 

NI should provide offline installers for everything sold w/ Komplete in the past and ditch online activation for these.

I remember there were serial numbers for sold productsand these could be used for offline activation.

At least, they should find a way ...

 

 

A.C.

[Stokely]

On 9/10/2022 at 7:18 PM, LarsHarner2 said:

I  just got Komplete 13 select for $99- augmented two items I wanted- B3/C3 (currently have UVI organs as well) and the Rickenbacher bass ( have ROwdy bass which I like).

I am wondering on black friday what the upgrade deal will be like. 

Typically, if memory serves, upgrade deals happen in the summer.  Product deals (including Komplete) happen in the fall.

I did what you did:  got K12 Select on sale, then I waited for the upgrade to Standard, which came along 50% off the next summer.

Now I'm wondering about whether I will upgrade to K14 Ultimate     While I don't use all that much from Komplete (in particular the synths, which are good but I have some others including Repro and Diva that I use more), Ultimate still has some stuff I'd like.   Adding Ozone 10 standard to the package is a bit more incentive.